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PD Calls Undercover Sting With No Citations A Success

DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) – When is a police sting with no violations considered a success? If you ask officers with the Denton Police Department, it’s when the results are from an undercover crackdown on underage tobacco use.

Police in Denton recently staged the sting operation that consisted of sending a 16-year old girl into several stores attempting to buy cigarettes. In every case the store clerk asked the teen for ID and refused the sale.

“As far as for the sting itself, no citations were issued,” Denton police Officer Ryan Grelle said, adding that is was the exact outcome they were hoping for, “All the clerks did exactly as they were supposed to. “It looks like our stings are working the way they are planed to work.”

The sting operation happened last Friday in Denton, one of several cities across the state participating in the Texas Comptroller’s Tobacco Enforcement Program.

“Cigarettes are problems everywhere, with underage [teens], not just specific in Denton,” Grelle said. “We try and work them [stings] to make sure that we are curtailing the problem on underage smoking.”

While no store clerks violated any laws, someone was cited during the sting. “They did locate someone in a parking lot smoking a K-2 substance, which is a citation for the city. It’s a city ordinance, so those people did get cited.”

Any store clerk caught selling cigarettes to a minor could face a possible fine of up to $500, for the Class C misdemeanor.